


stargazing basics

by mosaicos



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, makorinweekly prompt, stars/stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 06:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3477713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mosaicos/pseuds/mosaicos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin tries to figure out all the wonderful things that must occur inside Makoto’s head and the way synapses connect—much like the stars he’s trying to teach Rin about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	stargazing basics

“My phone’s nearly dead.”

“It _is_ a camping trip.”

“Don’t be cheeky. I didn’t realise we would be out in the damn _wilderness_.”

The reply doesn’t come nearly as fast, a quiet laugh creating puffs of breath to appear just past the orange scarf wrapped tightly around Makoto’s neck. “You can use the portable battery charger when we get back, if it’s that important.”

Rin does what any exemplary individual would do in his position: scoff and stick his hands into his jeans’ pockets, not taking too kindly to Makoto’s obvious teasing. Yes, he’s plenty dependent on his phone like the social media leech that he so happens to be, so what? It doesn’t matter that there was hardly any service up here in the mountains at all.

“Come on, Rin. We won’t need the light of our phones when we reach the clearing.”

No response.

“Riiiin.”

“I’m sulking.”

That earns him another laugh from Makoto, who works his way closer to the redhead and—does nothing, but make him take a turn to the left on the path, leading onwards towards their destination. Rin feels a little disappointed and betrayed at this unexpected romantic camping scenario for him to indulge his wildest dreams in... being thrown to waste over an expedition further up in the cold to find a clearing that may or may not exist any longer. 

There were better things he could think of doing, inside a tent, snuggling, trying to keep warm, confessing with quiet murmurs while Makoto’s breath hitched in his throat, unable to pose any sort of protest against Rin’s advances.

 _If only_.

(In reality, he had been so nervous he ended up choking on his words and keeping stiff under his blankets, his back to Makoto, wondering how the hell he was even supposed to sleep like this—with Makoto’s siblings and his parents in two tents at either side of theirs.)

“It should be clear enough to see the Orion group of constellations.”

“I didn’t realise you were such an avid fan of astronomy,” Rin’s response comes almost like an accusation, a _hrmph_ to the chirp of Makoto’s excited commentary. He would have never guessed Makoto knew so many star names nor how to find all sorts of different constellations.

There wasn’t much they had in common outside of swimming, and while he shared plenty of mutual interests with Makoto, star gazing did definitely _never_ come up in their many conversations. 

“It’s hard not to notice the stars in a place like Iwatobi. —I’m just glad I have someone to share this with.”

Makoto’s words should definitely not make him flush stupidly, nor make a knot twist in his stomach; who the hell talked like that? Making this that they were doing, an expedition to go star gazing, seem much more intimate than what it’s supposed to be. Surely Haru’s been in his position now, even Makoto’s siblings. 

“Anyway, how much further?”

“Hm, just a bit, if I remember right.”

Though, truth be told, he cannot _see_ Makoto sharing this with Haru; their friend was way too obsessed with swimming and pools to have an urge of interest towards something so infinite and faraway—Makoto would likely be embarrassed admitting anything. And the twins? The twins seemed too carefree to understand all the thought and theory Makoto seems to have put into this otherwise secret hobby of his. 

To be fair, Rin only found out because he had run his mouth and pretended he knew more than what he actually did, in an attempt to both impress and flatter the one guy he desperately wishes he could share starlit kisses with. 

It resulted in cramming a ton of online information about stars and methods of star gazing right before the camping trip he had been so excitedly invited to—and one invitation he couldn’t quite refuse because 1. it was romantic as hell and 2. Makoto invited only _Rin_ (or more like Haru was being visited by his parents to tag along, and that’s a can of worms Rin doesn’t want to willingly get into). 

His thoughts are suddenly cut short when he realises that he can, in fact, see more than just the outline of Makoto’s broad shoulders, or have a vague idea of where his own hand is in relation to himself. The darkness that had spilled so densely over them was suddenly gone, replaced by a silver shimmer; a quiet, near surreal kind of light all over their surroundings and themselves, making every shape and silhouette crisp and clear to the naked eye. Rin marvels at this, so used to city lights, while Makoto moves, walks around, and prepares a comfortable space for them to sit on, a blanket spread onto a piece of flat ground. 

It’s Makoto who ends up breaking the spell of surprise Rin has found himself bound in. The taller teen pulls at his gloves and stashes them away into his coat, warm hands wrapping around Rin’s colder ones, tugging him closer with a smile Rin can see _so clearly_ in the dark, as crazy as that notion seems to him, still. Makoto walks backwards, careful on where he steps, and leads Rin towards the space prepared for them to sit on. 

“It’s a full moon—they’ve named it a snow moon,” (who the hell is ‘they’? —holy shit, is Makoto so deep into this he _browses forums_...?) “so its light seems really crisp and cold, but it’s actually pretty nice to view stars with.”

They sit somehow, at some point, and Rin figures he’s thankful he didn’t end up on Makoto’s lap (so far gone already, what with Makoto holding his fucking _hands_ with the gentleness he’s known for), instead sitting with his knees pressed to his chest, feeling drained from how bad he’s got it for one of his best friends.

Makoto’s calm and collected, unsurprisingly, trying to show him a trail of stars and how they connect; he urges Rin to take notice of one of the biggest and brightest stars in the cluster, a bit ahead of them, calls it ‘polaris’ or another, before excitedly getting into an explanation of the chain of stars attached to it within the Ursa Minor constellation. 

“—Beta and Gamma are a little further down, those two, big, bright ones, do you see them? They form a bowl, sort of, with the other two over there…” 

He’s tracing the stars with his fingers, and Rin keeps quiet; his guard down, legs now crossed, knee knocking against Makoto’s thigh. He wants to tell Makoto that he can’t follow where his finger is pointing at because their perspectives are different, and yet he can’t make himself do so.

“It’s a little strange to call it a bowl. Anyway, if you trace back up in one single line, using those stars in between, to connect back to Polaris…” 

His voice is soft and warm, like he’s happy to be able to talk to someone about this, whether it be Rin or Haru or even Nagisa. Rin tries to figure out all the wonderful things that must occur inside Makoto’s head and the way synapses connect—much like the stars he’s trying to teach Rin about.

And it’s under the purple and cobalt frame of the night sky that Rin realises he’s in love with the boy sitting beside him, whose eyes are focused on the continuation of lines created by the stars up above, whereas his own are glued to the spots of freckles just under the corner of his eye.

Fireworks seem to burst inside his chest, because the thunder within feels so much more real than the stray blades of grass on his fingertips as he presses his hand down onto the blanket; it feels more real than the tiny rocks making indentations into his palm, or the brush of his shoulder against Makoto’s, or the burn of his lips at the unknown constellation of freckles spotting on Makoto’s skin. 

Makoto, in his own right, falters at the contact, slowly turning to look back at him; Rin, who has decided not to falter this time, to not run away, to not feel overwhelmed by how much he goddamn feels and has felt for some time now. His eyes burn into Makoto’s, defying and challenging as Rin is always prone to do, but hesitant and vulnerable in a way he hasn’t quite allowed many to see. 

Just as he’s about to give out from embarrassment, lips tightening into a thin line, Makoto’s own relax into a smile—softer than usual, pressing upwards towards his cheeks. 

It gives Rin enough courage to voice his thoughts. “Go out with me.” 

—and it’s incredibly scary, the way Makoto keeps smiling. Rin doesn’t hear an answer, because there isn’t one, but he _feels_ one, as Makoto’s hand (cold, now) smooths onto his cheek and smiling lips brush a kiss onto his cheek, too. 

It’s quiet, incredibly quiet, and he’s sure Makoto can see every single change in his expression. Rin is not sure if he wants to cry and punch his friend, or cry and hug him to hide his face. 

“It’s your own goddamn fault for choosing such a romantic place.”

Defensiveness comes automatically, but he’s happy for it because Makoto doesn’t reply back defensively—instead, he gives himself away and laughs, opening up his heart and opening himself up in the process, accepting of whatever clusterfuck of a confession Rin sprung up on him. 

Breath held in, “does this count as a date?”, and he can’t fucking believe Makoto is even real.

***

Rin is pleased that he confessed (sort of) to Makoto under the starlight, in the middle of the night, while alone, in such a (relatively) romantic situation. He had hoped that when he did confess he would whisper sweet nothings into Makoto’s ear while stealing kisses from his sleepy eyes, and not worrying about sitting on top of a stone, cramping his ass.

Back in their shared tent, and after some more (impatient) star-related conversation, Rin keeps true to his promise. He’s too nervous and too much of a romantic to skip right into third base (as much as he tries to tell himself otherwise), and instead hangs over on top of Makoto, caressing his arms with utmost reverence, whispering sweet no(every)things, kissing at a more realistically, much more adorable, much more fantastically giggling Makoto (who would have figured he was ticklish?), brushing his hair back and returning to the same cluster of freckles by his eyes.

If Makoto wanted to, he could teach Rin about stars for years to come, (but Rin knows, in his heart of romance, that he’ll always come back to his favourite group of stars, right down here on Earth, and not a thousand light years away in the past).


End file.
